Mike Markey, R.I.P.

Friday, April 11, 2014

Ian Mann pays tribute to the South Wales based blues vocalist and harmonica player who died suddenly on April 10th 2014. Words, too, from Mike's musical partner, guitarist Nick Jones.

I was shocked and saddened to receive the following Facebook message from Nick Jones;

“It is with deep regret that I write this message ? Mike Markey passed away last night at around 11:40.
He fell ill whilst we drove home from Radio Cardiff on Thursday night and taken in to Nevill Hall Hospital, Abergavenny in the early hours. Unbeknown to Mike he’d been suffering with a tear in his bowel which irreparably damaged other organs. His only option was to take a chance on an emergency operation. This proved unsuccessful.”

Ian writes;

Mike Markey was an excellent blues harmonica player and an accomplished vocalist with an authentic and authoritative blues voice. He formed half of a superb acoustic blues duo in partnership with guitarist Nick Jones, the latter a highly skilled finger picker and slide guitar specialist. Mike and Nick had the happy ability to appeal both to casual audiences who might not have heard their material before and to hard core blues buffs They were an excellent live act who consistently delivered the goods.

Their repertoire included many risque and double entendre blues songs of the 1930’s and their shows matched good humour with high quality musicianship.They appeared regularly on local and regional radio and were featured on Paul Jones’ blues programme on BBC Radio 2.

Their only album, “Heads Of The Valleys”, reviewed elsewhere on this site, is an excellent record of their abilities with some well chosen material and top drawer vocal and instrumental performances. It’s a consistently enjoyable album and one that repays repeated listening.

Mike was a huge man, something of a “gentle giant”, and a genuine blues aficianado. He will be much missed on the South Wales music scene and beyond, the success of “Heads Of The Valleys” plus their radio appearances had seen the duo performing farther afield.

I saw the duo perform live on numerous occasions, they were frequent visitors to my home town of Leominster, and I always enjoyed seeing and hearing them. It’s fair to say that we became friends, and I’m the proud owner of a promotional T shirt that was produced around the time of the “Heads Of The Valleys” release. I think it’s time to dig it out and wear it as a tribute to Mike.

Ironically Mike’s tragic death came at a time when the duo had started gigging again following a brief hiatus.

All at the Jazzmann send condolences to Mike’s family and friends, and particularly to his musical buddy Nick Jones.

R.I.P Mike and thanks for the music and the memories.